Saturday, March 30, 2013

Suddenly, IPL is opening up cracks in Indian sovereignty. A bad precedent is being set by blocking Sri Lankan players from entering Tamil Nadu, but allowing them to enjoy the rest of India. Everybody seems to be focused on the advantage it gives the Chennai Superkings, but nobody has picked up the Indian pride angle yet.

India is already set to condemn the war atrocities of Sri Lanka which the Sinhalese majority in that country had managed to hide from the world for a long time. But apparently only Tamil Nadu feels outraged while the rest of India goes "Meh". If this pattern continues, we will have low morale across many institutions, including the Indian military.

What's next? If there is trouble in Bangladesh against non-Muslim Bengalis and they scamper to the West Bengal border, will the IPL only block the Bangladeshi players from playing in West Bengal? Are only Indian Christians supposed to feel the pain when Christians are attacked in Egypt and Iraq? Are only Indian Shias supposed to feel the pain when a mosque is bombed in Pakistan? Are only Indian Sunnis supposed to be outraged when Syria starts gassing its own citizens?

This is a slippery slope. You can pretty much guarantee that Tamilians and concerned Indians will be protesting outside all cricket grounds in Maharashtra, Delhi and anywhere else they muster enough numbers. And it will not take long for BJP and Shivsena to represent the Indian side of the coin. IPL may be tax free, but it is merely a vehicle for filling up Congress coffers in various quarters.

Whatever happened to the solidarity that was shown during the South African apartheid era?